Alan Clark

Alan Kenneth Mackenzie Clark (April 13, 1928 – September 5, 1999) was a British Conservative politician, historian and diarist. The son of art historian Kenneth Clark, he read modern history at Oxford and qualified as a Barrister, but never practiced. His book "The Donkeys" (1961) argued that British troops were poorly led in the First World War. Clark became Conservative Member of Parliament for Plymouth Sutton in 1974, and served in the government of Margaret Thatcher. After standing down from Parliament in 1992, he published his diaries the next year which became an instant classic for their combination of political intrigue, high living, and Clark's many sexual exploits with women.

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In 1971 Clark said this should be the message given to refugees expelled by Idi Amin from Uganda who held residence rights in the UK.

John Pilger: I read that you were a vegetarian and you are seriously concerned about the way animals are killed.Alan Clark: Yeah.John Pilger: Doesn’t that concern extend to the way humans, albeit foreigners, are killed?Alan Clark: Curiously not.

Interviewed by John Pilger in the documentary Death of a Nation, broadcast on ITV February 22, 1994.

I only can properly enjoy carol services if I am having an illicit affair with someone in the congregation. Why is this? Perhaps because they are essentially pagan, not Christian, celebrations.

December 17, 1985; page 125.

I fell into conversation with Douglas. His is a split personality. À deux he is delightful; clever, funny, observant, drily cynical. But get him anywhere near "display mode", particularly if there are officials around, and he might as well have a corncob up his arse. Pompous, trite, high-sounding, cautiously guarded.

January 29, 1988; page 198.

I want to fire the whole lot. Instantly. Out, out. No "District" commands, no golden bowlers, nothing. Out … If I could, I'd do what Stalin did to Tukhachevsky.